Think
Like Jesus ChristAn all-creatures Bible Message

Think Like Jesus Christ

A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church

17 September 2017

Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Think like Jesus Christ is a reminder that we all should be giving
ourselves, for it is most likely that’s the only way we are going to be able
to live in the heavenly will of God.

Perhaps some of us may even believe that we can’t really think like Jesus
Christ, and if you are one of them, you’re wrong, for Paul tells us in 1
Corinthians 2:16…

16. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But
we have the mind of Christ.
NASB

Believe it; it’s true.

This also means that we can think like Jesus Christ, or at least we should.

Jesus taught the people to see and understand the Hebrew Scriptures through
what He was teaching them, and if and when they found that their
understanding was being confused by the teachings and the tradition of the
religious leaders, they were to follow what Jesus said and taught them.

So, let’s do our very best to think like Jesus Christ as we look at Romans
14:1-12…

1. Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of
passing judgment on his opinions.

This is one of those verses that can be very confusing and sounds like a
person who is “weak in faith” has very little faith, but we believe that we
should see this statement through something that Jesus taught us in Matthew
5:3…

3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
NASB

Being a person who is “weak in faith,” as Paul writes, sounds a whole lot
like a person who is “poor in spirit,” but Jesus goes on and tells us why a
person who is “poor in spirit” is blessed; because theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.

Why does Jesus say this?

We believe that a person who is weak or poor in faith or spirit, is a person
who is not set in their mind with what they believe, but they are open to
hear the unction of the Holy Spirit teaching them what God wants them to
know.

2. One man has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats
vegetables only.

We may never know the full meaning or intent of what Paul is writing or the
way in which the text is written.

However, in the context of what Paul is writing, we believe that the person
who is “weak” has compassion and empathy for the animals and doesn’t want
any living being to suffer and die so that they may eat; in contrast, the
person who is strong in faith has little or no compassion or empathy for the
animals, because they are locked into the teachings and tradition of the
religious hierarchy.

To us, this is thinking with the mind of Christ.

3. Let not him who eats regard with contempt him who does not eat, and let
not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.

We cannot force a person to think like Jesus Christ, we are to just love
them into the kingdom of God; we are to just set the example of kingdom
living before others and allow them to stand before the Lord according to
their own lifestyle, for God sees the true intent of every heart, unlike us.

However, since eating and wearing animals causes the animals to suffer
horribly, we can ask those people why they don’t feel the fear, pain, and
suffering of the animals as we do; and we should do this in an
non-judgmental way.

More than 35 years ago we ate and wore animal by-products, and various
people lovingly showed us the truth about what happens to animals, or told
us about it, and we began to change…and we have been vegan for more than 30
years.

We need to think about how we woke up to the truth, and what were the most
effective things that other people helped us to understand, and we need to
relate to others in the same way.

Think about what we are told in Matthew 5:7

7. Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
NIV

This is similar to the golden rule, for as we show mercy to all other living
beings without expecting any reward, we will be shown mercy from our Father
who is in heaven.

True mercy has no limits; we cannot selectively choose who will receive our
mercy and who will not; it must be shown equally to all humans and other
animals, or it is not the kind of mercy that Jesus is telling us about.

Let’s return to what Paul wrote…

4. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands
or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

This is what we meant about people who hang on to their hardness of heart,
because they prefer the corrupt ways of this world instead of the heavenly
will of God; they will have to answer to God for their actions.

5. One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike.
Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.

This is like observing the sabbath day.

Jesus seems to teach us that every day should be as a sabbath day to the
Lord; not that we can’t work or go shopping, but that in everything we do
and say, we do to honor the Lord and His heavenly will.

6. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does
so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the
Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

People all the time are thanking the Lord for ungodly things, but that
doesn’t make it acceptable to the Lord.

Think about what we said about being merciful; if someone is eating animal
flesh, are they being merciful to that animal?

We don’t believe that there is any way they can be, and as a result, they
lose the blessing.

7. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;

8. for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord;
therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

Is Paul telling us, as Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:48?

48. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
NIV

Perhaps, but maybe not, for to us, the only way we can be perfect is to live
according to God’s heavenly will, and this requires us to look clearly at
our own way of life and whether or not it is in the heavenly will of God.

We need to think like Jesus Christ all the time and leave no room for the
devil.

9. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both
of the dead and of the living.

We don’t believe that this is saying that the Lord accepts everyone, for He
is also Lord of those who are going to hell; even though they may not accept
Him, He is still Lord of all.

10. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard
your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat
of God.

This is also why God is Lord of all, and why we all need to have the mind of
Christ, and think like Jesus Christ.

11. For it is written,
"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall give praise to God."

12. So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.
NASB

And if we think about it, it becomes a lot easier to do this if we have the
mind of Christ and think like Jesus Christ.

It’s not so much how we interpret things or see things or do things, unless
they are being done in the heavenly will of God.

We constantly need to ask ourselves: how would Jesus act in this situation,
how would Jesus interpret this Bible passage, or whatever else may enter our
lives or minds.

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